Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power connector for receiving an electric plug, and more particularly to a power connector provided with an improved Schuko grounding socket architecture.
Description of Related Art
Each country has its own type of electric plugs and socket-outlets, and the plugs from one country are often physically incompatible with the sockets from the other countries. For instance, there are six different types of socket outlets used in Europe, each differing mainly in the grounding system. To address the difference in sockets and plugs, a tourist who travels around different countries may need a travel plug adapter to fit the plug of his/her electrical appliance into a domestic socket.
A travel plug adapter is usually provided with a universal socket layout for receiving the plug types in common use, such as a Schuko plug. The Schuko plug-socket system, or the CEE 7/4 system as defined by the European Commission for Conformity Testing of Electrical Equipment (CEE), is the most popular system in Europe. As estimated, about 250 million people within the European Union and another 225 million elsewhere in Europe are using Schuko-compatible plugs and sockets. This means that approximately 49% of people in the European Union rely on the Schuko system. According to the system, a Schuko plug has two 4.8 mm round pins spaced 19 mm apart for the line and neutral contacts, plus two flat contact areas on the top and bottom side of the plug for protective earth.
In order to construct a universal socket architecture that can receive as many as possible types of plugs, efforts have been made in the past twenty five years. FIG. 13 shows a conventional universal socket, which can take most types of electric plugs used in Europe, but its common socket frame 50′ does not have enough contact area to attach properly to the flat earth contacts of a Schuko plug, causing a poor ground connection with the Schuko plug.
Thus, there is still a need for a power connector device provided with a robust universal socket architecture that can take the plug types in common use around the world, while being adapted to assure a good ground connection with a Schuko plug.